A Day in the Life
by Chrys-DASL
Summary: A series of one-shots showcasing daily happenings of various Arthur characters. Most are in first person, but chapters that cover more characters are in third-person. First up, Tomorrow featuring Fern. Hope you guys enjoy. Please R&R.
1. Tomorrow

**A DAY IN THE LIFE**

 _A Shorts Series_

 _Tomorrow_

Fern's POV

I can do it tomorrow. It's one of those story contests my English teachers always have me do, but I'm not feeling it. I mean, I love seeing my stuff in print. Last year, the contest they had me submit to printed all the stories in a book for us to buy. Mom was unhappy, but each copy is personalized to highlight your kid's work, so it was a printed book that said BY FERN WALTERS on the cover. She had to splurge, but I don't want to make her do that again. I don't even want to do this contest. Why can't I write something bigger for these people? I want to be a truly published author, not a contest winner.

So I'll do this tomorrow, if I do it at all. I'm getting older, so why not do my own thing and pursue my own dreams? I could get published. I know I could get published. I just have to get up and go to my laptop and write.

But school has me so tired. My brain is barely functioning. I'll start that tomorrow, but I'll use today to think and plan. I won't push this off because it's important to me. I want my own book that says BY FERN WALTERS. I'll do what I have to in order to make this happen. I'll learn to do it all.

~End

A/N: This short is dedicated to all those "I'll do it tomorrow" types like myself:D

This is the first in a series called "A Day in the Life," which will basically cover small moments in different characters' lives. If it's in first-person like this entry, I'll tell you immediately who's speaking, but others will be in third-person one-shot style. Other chapters might end up with sequels. Always check the A/N's for more info.

If you have any suggestions, please let me know (nothing inappropriate please).


	2. Heroes

_Heroes_

Buster's POV

I want to go to the convention, not to dress up or buy stuff but to meet the guys who draw comics, act in movies, and do voice acting work. I want to be just like these guys when I grow up, so Con isn't just for fun to me. It's like if Brain goes to a museum-he's learning. I want to learn, and I can only learn if I go and meet these people and learn what it takes to become one of them.

I just wish Mom could see it. She thinks it's a fad, and she thinks I just want to get out of being grounded. No, I really do want to see my heroes and listen to their panels. If I want to be like them, I have to study them. I have to figure out what works and what doesn't, and Con can teach me. I might meet up with friends, but I want to meet more people, people who are like me and don't think like my mom. I mean, Arthur is supposed to be my best friend, but he thinks just like my mom. He thinks this is all some childish dream that I'll grow out of. I know what I want, and I want to be a comic book artist or a screenwriter or something big like that. I want to be a game changer just like my heroes. I'll go to Con whether she wants me to or not. I'll show her. I'll show them all.

~End

A/N: Sorry about not updating this. I completely forgot about it. I've got more to post so keep an eye out for more updates to this piece.


	3. Pain

_Pain_

James's POV

I broke my arm yesterday. I didn't think it would hurt that much. It just looked funny and I couldn't use it. I went to the hospital, and they seemed surprised that I wasn't in much pain. I didn't even want the medicine they gave me, it I'm glad Mom took it now. It hurts so much. It's like my arm is on fire, and I don't think the medicine is helping very much. It still burns and aches. It's making me cry and I haven't cried in a long time.

But people are being really nice to me. My classmates saw it happen, and they're sending me things. The Tibble twins even sent me some cookies, and Emily came in with an action figure and she signed my cast. Keith thought it was his fault because he was with me when it happened, but I don't blame him. I don't blame anyone. It hurts but they say it'll get better. It's already okay despite the pain. Molly brought me ice cream, and Mom let me eat it for dinner. Things are okay now, and people are treating me better than they ever have.

But I'm not ready to go back to school yet. It hurts a lot, and the medicine is only doing so much. It makes me sleepy too, but Mom says I'll have to go back eventually. It'll stop hurting and I'll have to move on. I don't know when that'll be though. It feels like an eternity, but if people are going to keep treating so well, I don't think I'm going to mind very much.

~End


	4. Burned

_Burned_

The smoke filled the sky, commanding attention as the plume made people look up. Everyone wanted to know what was happening, so they sought out information. Some of them drove across town to find the source of the smoke, but other looked to news outlets and social media for the source. Soon everyone knew the truth somehow: The Crosswire mansion was gone.

People were stunned. How could such an amazing home disappear in a matter of hours in such a traumatic way? No one knew what to do or what to say. They knew nothing could console the materialistic family, and they wondered how they would even cope with such a dramatic loss. Everyone vowed to help in whatever way that they could, but they all wondered what that would mean. Would they be stuck buying designer items? Would they have to give their homes to them?

Shortly after dark, Laverne Frensky opened her door to see a dingy Muffy standing in the doorway. She wanted to stay there, and the family took her in. She took a shower and received some pajamas from Francine. Then she ate dinner with them.

Catherine was overly curious and couldn't contain herself, "What happened to your house?"

Her parents quickly reacted and scolded her for being so inconsiderate, but Muffy didn't seem to mind. She was dying to tell her story, and she started her story while the family stopped eating to listen.

"It started in the outdoor kitchen just off the side of the house. Bailey looked out and saw the flames. He got all of us outside as quickly as possible, and we were so grateful. The propane tank for the grill leaked then caused an explosion. Half of the house collapsed on itself because the damage, and there was just nothing the fire department could do. The fire burned so hot and so fast. There's nothing left," Muffy said, her eyes falling to her plate.

Laverne leaned forward, "But what will you do now? I mean, you can stay here as long as you need to, but I want to know."

Muffy sighed, "Mom went to stay with her mother, and Daddy is staying in a friend's guest house. I'm here, and I'm eternally grateful for whatever you can help me with. I know my life will be different now, and I'm okay with that."

"I don't get it. You and your family are so spoiled, but you're just content with losing everything," Catherine spat, causing her parents to scold her further.

But Muffy understood, "I know it seems strange, and Mother is taking it the hardest. She lost a lot of family heirlooms that actually meant something to her, but everything else were just things. We'll get back on our feet faster if we realize how much we have beyond material things. We have family and friends, and that's all we need right now. The rest will come later."

The family studied her. No one expected her to be okay on the first day. They knew her journey would be difficult, but they wanted to get there for her. Francine would share her clothes, and the family would share everything else. They would help her get through, and they would take the process one day at a time.

~End


	5. First Kiss

_First Kiss_

Molly's POV

A first kiss should mean something, but the way these other girls talk, it's all about how popular that first guy is. So it's totally legit to have your first kiss with a popular guy you have nothing in common with, but if your first boyfriend or whatever isn't popular, it's like he doesn't count. Don't they realize it won't matter where your first fell on the rungs of society twenty years from now? You'll remember where you were, and how it went down. If it was awkward, you'll smile or laugh. If it was awful or disgusting, you'll remember that too. But you won't care how popular he was. You might think of the person in terms of what happened to them later in high school or college or something, but you won't care about anything else.

This is why I want to wait too and make sure the person is special. Everything like this that happens to you sticks like superglue, and you'll never be able to forget if that popular guy hurled himself at you. You won't forget if he embarrasses you or says cruel things about you. That's what those guys they want kisses from will do because I hear things, terrible things. These are the guys who will spend their lives forcing themselves onto women without the world caring because "Oh, but he's so beloved by the community! How could that fussy say such a thing?" Seriously, that's the path he's on right now.

I'm waiting because kisses are special. I want the guy I share my first kiss with to be one of those good guys, the kind of guy that wouldn't be on these girl's radars because he's nice and spends time with his mother or siblings, or he has some hobby they think isn't popular. I want one of those guys because they'll amount to something one day, and I could look back and say, "My first kiss was with the guy who owns that big non-profit that helps orphans." I mean, I know that's a stretch, but we don't know what the future holds. That's why the present matters. That's why we shouldn't be so shallow or so submissive. This is our life. Popularity among the masses shouldn't control how we run our lives or who we end up having our first kiss is.

And the best part? No one knows little miss popular, Mary Alice Crosswire, had her first kiss with me two years ago and liked it. She's controlled by the media, but I know the truth, and I can't wait for everyone to find out years from now when it's not vital to be straight. They'll laugh, smile, then ask why we didn't end up together, because popularity doesn't matter and it never, ever will.

~End


	6. First Day on the Job

_First Day on the Job_

DW's POV

I can't believe I'm doing this. After growing up with the Tibble twins, I don't know what possessed me to become an elementary school teacher. I mean, those boys ate those people alive and now I'm one of them.

My student-teaching went well, at least, and it gave me enough practice, but now that I'm driving to a school that is my workplace instead of a school I should be learning in, all those horrific memories have come flooding back.

Take this one, for example. Tommy and Timmy pretended to fight once. They were in fourth grade with me, and Tommy had a nosebleed. The teacher freaked out, as she should have, but it was all a hoax. While she rushed Tommy to the office, Timmy wrote the most horrible things on the board about the teacher. She was young, like I am now, and they wanted her to leave. They had it out for her all year, but she never gave up, not even when they did all of that to make her leave.

I don't know how she did it. I asked my professors about how to deal with kids like that, but they said those types of kids only exist in movies. I couldn't convince anyone that these boys were real, that my questions were based off horrible memories, and now I'm here, pulling into an elementary school's parking lot just before sunrise for my first day of work.

After filling out some paperwork, I found my classroom. It was smaller than I remembered, but it was quaint like I wanted it to be. I was teaching at a charter school that specialized in small classes. I only had fifteen students, and while I had their lunch card pictures from the previous year, I knew nothing about them. And my pounding heart knew that any one of them could be a Tibble remake.

Slowly the day began, and soon I was looking my students in the eye as the day began. They wore matching white and navy blue uniforms, but each face was distinct. Some wore glasses, others had freckles, and one girl had a strawberry-shaped scar on her cheek. Each were different, just as I knew from experience and just as I'd been taught. I would have to get to know the child behind the face, and I couldn't let my Tibble-based fears get in the way.

After a week, I knew each child as if they were my own. Each had specific traits and needs, and I helped them learn the semi-tough second grade material.

None of them were Tibbles. Well, Steven would act up whenever he got bored, but once I let him read between activities, he calmed down. And Annalisa was dramatic, so she could sometimes be a handful, but they were all good students.

They were my students, and I knew to cherish every moment, as the batch would change the next year and then the next. I'd have to fight to remember them, shifting my greatest fear. Instead of fearing a Tibble, I began to fear forgetting.

 _Theme 1: New Teacher_

A/N: Theme from my Arthur Infinite Theme List Challenge. I've probably already done this theme once, but I want to redo the list and see what else the themes can inspire. If you want more info or would like to participate, let me know. And to see more entries, check out my community, Arthur Collab Serieses.


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